If I don’t have any rental income can I still claim a loss?

By Jason Watson (Google+)

Yes. The Tax Court recently ruled that you can deduct rental losses for up to two years while you actively try to rent the property. There is a potential sticky point- let’s say you purchased a property in January but through required improvements, the property was not ready for rent until July. Depreciation will begin when the property is placed in service and ready for use, and in this case that is July. But you also incurred expenses outside of the improvements such as utilities and HOA dues between January and July- these expenses are deductible.